From the field

This year the team has found a few Roman burials, they seem to be buried in a line in an Iron Age ditch. The first one in these photos, the horizontal example you can clearly see, appears to have been buried holding some teeth. More on this as the research continues.

Lots of rain delays at the beginning of this dig season, and the site was turned into a quagmire.

Two discoveries from this year that remind us that this story is set against the backdrop of the Roman invasion of Britain. The Durotriges lived through this time and had their own unique experience of it. As an isolated tribe, they seem to have resisted Romanisation, at least for longer than other British Iron Age tribes. However, Roman objects appear here from time to time and show that the incomers couldn't be kept out forever. What you can see here first is a decorated fragment of ceramic. It is in fact a sherd of Samian Ware, also known as terra sigillata, a fine, mass-produced Roman tableware, manufactured in southern France during the late 1st century AD. This was actually a piece of a fine ware drinking cup, basically a fancy Roman wine cup. The second image shows the remains of a late Roman building.

The skeleton of a 10 year old child. Children of this age are found here only rarely.

Fabulous day for the start of the 2025 excavation.

The women's graves are always better furnished here and we know for sure now that this is because Durotrigian women held the status and power. This grave contains a particularly impressive collection of pots, both in number and style. If you've seen my Youtube chat with Dr Miles Russell you'll be familiar with the headlines this discovery generated about the Iron Age 'Bridget Jones' and the somewhat sexist news stories of Iron Age women in their thirties turning to booze. Alcohol seems to have been associated with the elite at this time and these pots are actually Roman, so evidence of the gradual adoption of Roman culture. You'll notice this is a double burial. They are both women but whether or not they are related is still to be determined as they haven't been DNA tested yet.

The first image is a familiar crouch burial... but what is unusual is the items she's buried with. There are A LOT of objects and one of these is a Roman wine flagon, a first on this site, and something that was picked up by the national press last year. The other burial looks far less eye-catching but it's unusual because this suggests it might be a human sacrifice. Why? Because another skeleton was found like this and she met a very brutal end, something that we explore in detail in a film we're currently putting together.

Strikingly different to the Iron Age crouch burials found in large numbers across the site, these are two of four prone burials found in 2024 and interpreted as Roman. The second example features in our Hobnails and Handles short film. Many hobnails were discovered in the earth around the skeleton's feet, indicating that the person buried here was wearing Roman style sandals with characteristic caligae in the soles. Was this individual therefore a Roman or a Briton adopting Roman style?

Some human burials, buried in typical crouched fashion, with the familiar pots alongside them.

A late Iron Age adult and child burial. Graves like this raise all sorts of questions... who were they and why were they buried together? There is something poignant in the way they are entwined. The child appears to have been about 8 years old when they died.

This collection of assorted animal bones was from one pit on one day. The pot is a Black Burnished Ware bead rim bowl of a kind manufactured in Dorset. You'll see from the various images of human burials that they are commonly found in Durotrigan graves.

Some of the human burials discovered in 2023, including images of a Bronze Age woman. Living some 2000 years before the Iron Age Durotriges tribe, her bones are very fragile. She demonstrates the long history of occupation in this landscape and may be a distant ancestor of the Durotriges.

Dr Miles Russell explaining the typical Durotrigan style of burial.

A collection of finds from the 2022 dig.

These clips are the preparation and start of the 2022 dig, clearing the soil before the excavations get underway, Dr Miles Russell interpreting the results of the geophysical survey in Dorset. These results determined where the team would focus their investigations in 2022. I love hearing him explaining, it all slots into place.

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In these clips Dr Miles Russell reveals some unusual discoveries.

These clips come direct and unedited from the archaeological team and show animal remains being excavated.

The remains of an Iron Age child of less than a year old. So far, older children seem to be missing from the site. We can only speculate as to why. I'd be interested to know whether this is something found on other Iron Age burial sites.